ABSTRACT
Physicochemical properties and sensory evaluation of beef sausage samples containing Monascus pigments were followed during 90 days of storage at -18°C. The cooking yield of control beef sausage samples [containing 3% starch] was the lowest initial cooking and achieved a level of 82.9% and almost the highest value of cooking loss [17.11%]. While, the beef sausage samples containing 0.25% dry red rice showed the highest initial cooking yield [91.11%] and the lowest cooking loss [8.87%]. The water holding capacity [WHC] of all samples decreased progressively, throughout the storage period. Control samples had the lowest WHC after 90 days of storage at -18°C when compared with other samples containing Monascus pigments and all samples tended to decrease in plasticity. The chemical constituents of beef sausage samples were affected by freezing and storage period. The moisture, protein and ash contents were gradually decreased with increasing the storage period and vice versa for fat content. The results indicated that, thiobarbituric acid [TEA] values increased with increasing the storage period, and the control samples recorded the highest TBA values after 90 days of frozen storage. For the total volatile nitrogen [TVN] values, all samples had a slight increase in TVN values during frozen storage. Storage of different samples at -18°C for 90 days considerably reduced the counts of the initial total bacterial, total Coliform and Staphylococcus sp. of beef sausage samples. The sensory evaluation of cooked beef sausage samples indicated that, the samples containing 0.3% and 0.45% dry biomass and 0.5% and 0.75% dry red rice gave a higher rating than the other samples. Results indicated that, high scores for the parameters of appearance, juiciness, tenderness, colour, aroma and overall acceptability for samples containing 0.3% and 0.45% of dry biomass, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75% of dry red rice, 0.5% of red corn bran and 0.75% of dry red bagasse and proteilan mixture